Visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific's new Wonders of the Deep exploration exhibit examine a replica of an underwater thermal vent. JEFF GRITCHEN, LONG BEACH REGISTER

An octopus, burrowed inside a hole in the rocks, made its live, debut appearance on the big screen this summer at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

The deep-sea video footage, beamed from several exploration ships, is part of the new Wonders of the Deep exhibit at the aquarium.

“The unexplored, the new-to-the-world isn’t some super far off place,” said David Bader, director of education at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

“You don’t have to travel to Mars to see something that no one has seen before. All you have to do is go out into the ocean and look down.”

Ships that are transmitting live video include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Okeanos Explorer, Ocean Explorer Trust’s Nautilus and the Woods Hole Oceanic Institution’s Atlantis.

The Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island has teamed with Connecticut-based nonprofits, Ocean Exploration Trust and Sea Research Foundation Inc., to transmit the ships’ live video feeds to aquariums, schools, museums and online at the ships’ websites.

“Anyone can connect live,” Bader said.

The ships are exploring habitats in the deep ocean.

“They’re finding methane seeps – methane bubbles coming out of the ground,” Bader said. “If you find methane, you know there is life.”

They’re also exploring hydrothermal vents, which are cracks in the ocean floor that spew hot water and minerals that are heated by the Earth’s magma.

Despite the lack of sunlight, the vents sustain a community of critters such as clams, shrimps and tube worms. A mock hydrothermal vent environment can be seen at the aquarium.

Up until 1977, when hydrothermal vents were discovered, scientists thought all life on the planet depended on sunlight and the process of photosynthesis.

Scientists actually know little about much of the ocean or its inhabitants.

“We know a lot of animals are becoming extinct before we’ve learned much about them,” said Perry Hampton, vice president of husbandry at the aquarium.

More people have walked on the moon than have descended to the deepest part of the world’s ocean, he said.

Visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific's new Wonders of the Deep exploration exhibit examine a replica of an underwater thermal vent. JEFF GRITCHEN, LONG BEACH REGISTER
A tank of Chambered Nautilus sits in the Aquarium of the Pacific's new Wonders of the Deep exploration exhibit. JEFF GRITCHEN, LONG BEACH REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.